


Being a Step Mother is HARD

by CaseyNova03



Category: Cinderella (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Folklore, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 04:20:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6408505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaseyNova03/pseuds/CaseyNova03
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is story about Cinderella through the eyes of the Step mother, Lady Tremaine. Starts from the beginning of Lord and Lady Tremaine's marriage. Everything was going well until Lady Tramaine started noticing odd things. It is an a AU, but has similar events, but different outcomes. It has a darker theme with slight humor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Being a Step Mother is HARD

No matter how much we prepared, there wasn’t anything that could have helped us that night. Sometimes you just have to make the hard decisions, for the greater good. Even if it means getting yourself and the ones you love, killed. I’ll start from the beginning.  
When I first married Lord Tremaine, all was fine. Lovely even. We all got along well enough. Ella, Lord Tremaine’s daughter was beautiful and incomparably sweet. My daughters and Ella took well to each other enough. Lucifer, the cat, seemed to like the new mansion. Everything was going great. As the month passed by, I started to notice things. Like, the attic for instance, had a massive, iron door. When I asked Lord Tremaine about the door, he simply told me not to worry about it. I wasn’t worried about UNTIL he told me NOT to worry about it. What was behind the door? When I tried to open it but it was locked. So, deciding it was a lost cause, I left the door. Another thing I noticed, was the food. There was so much food. There was such a variety of meat and an abundance of it! My girls and I never saw so much food. When I asked Lord Tremaine why we had such a stock, he simply said that they like to keep the pantry full. So they like food, who doesn’t? I let it be. Then, one evening, I just happened to be looking through his nightstand to find a gun! I suppose that it’s not too odd to have a gun in the nightstand, I prefer to keep my nunchuks, but to each their own. It was the bullets that were odd. I have never seen such bullets before! They must have been specially made. With all things aside, we were happy.   
It wasn’t until the end of the month, one night in particular, that something strange occurred. I was woken up, probably around midnight, to a faint howling noise. It sounded like it was from above, in the attic. When I looked over to wake Lord Tremaine, he wasn’t there. I swiftly put on my night robe and lit a candle. Candle in hand, I silently left the room. There was not a soul in sight. I followed the noise and as it grew louder, I found myself at the foot of the stairs to the attic. As quietly as I could manage, I crept up the stairs. Sitting by the iron door was Lord Tremaine, asleep. The howling was indefinitely coming from the room with the iron door. It wasn’t until I was by the door that I could hear pacing and scratching, along with moments of a brief howl. My first thought; they had a wolf pet. It didn’t seem to fit though, it was only tonight that I heard the noise. It was then that Lord Tremaine woke up. We stared at each other in silence for quite a bit before he finally spoke. “Lovely evening, eh?”. Using my impeccable persuasive skills I finally got the truth from him, meaning I just stared at him until he finally cracked. He explained everything, the attic, the food, the gun, and all the noise. It all came down to Ella. She had contracted some kind of curse when she was little. Every full moon she shapeshifts into a werewolf. The attic is where she stays until dawn, the food is to appease her hunger in wolf form, and the noise was self-explanatory, she just made a ruckus when cooped up. The gun was a backup. After he explained everything I wasn’t sure what to think. It was a lot to handle. I almost ran! But I loved Lord Tremaine, and despite her curse, I loved Ella as well. So, I stayed.   
We thought telling He taught me the routine of keeping Ella out of harm’s way, or to keep her from harming others. When there was an expected full moon, we prepared the room for the night. Cooking up meals that would serve multiple households, placed them in the room with her dog toys and such. Then when the time came, she simply went up into the attic and we bolted the door shut. The next day was worse. Ella is always a mess when she transforms back to human. She had the tendency to run around and ram herself against the walls, trying to escape, which would often leave her being very scratched up and bruised. So she is usually incapacitated for a couple days. Then there was the gun. It was the backup incase Ella somehow managed to escape, we had to be sure she didn’t leave the house. The thought scared me, but Lord Tremaine assured me it would never happen. The routine was easy to pick up anyway.   
Then Lord Tremaine fell ill. Then Lord Tremaine died. Life was not lovely in the Tremaine household. The girls bickered often, I had to deal with the attorneys, figure out the budget with all the meat, and also deal with Ella’s condition, all by myself. It was a tricky first couple weeks but everything seemed to fall into place. It wasn’t until the Prince’s ball that everything went haywire.   
At first it was a blessing. The Prince’s ball would be the perfect pick me up for the girls. It wasn’t until it dawned on us that the ball occurred on a full moon. If Ella couldn’t go, it just wouldn’t be fair to let the girls go! But they made such a fuss that I couldn’t help be let them go. Ella was so distraught, but I told her I would make it up to her. She cleaned for the most of the day, a coping mechanism perhaps. That night the girls got ready for the ball, Ella got ready to spend the night in the attic. While preparing the girls for the ball I hardly noticed where Ella was, I figured she was setting up her room. We called a fancy carriage taxi, our carriage had a rickety wheel, and they were off to the castle.   
I called for Ella once the girls left. It was so quite in the house. I called for her again; no response. I figured she was up in the attic already, perhaps she fell asleep. I decided I would prepare more food for her night. I was finished with all the cooking around ten. When I brought the food to her room, I was astonished to find that Ella was not there. I began searching the house, calling out to her, hoping she was just off reading in a corner. I had checked the whole mansion by ten thirty. Where could she have gone? I thought perhaps she was taking a stroll in the garden, at ten thirty at night. I wasn’t convinced but there wasn’t anywhere else she would be. The garden was empty. Then I saw the back gate open, and our round carriage, with the rickety wheel, GONE.   
I stood there, dumbfounded. She would never- how could she- it’s impossible. Where would she have gone? My mind was racing. Then sheer terror took hold of me. The Prince’s ball. She wouldn’t go, would she? I looked at the outdoor clock, it was already eleven. I ran inside and called for fancy carriage taxi. As I waited I paced the front all, thinking. I finally realized what must be done. With swift steps I fetched the gun. After I loaded the gun and pocketed the rest of the bullets, I went back downstairs where my fancy carriage taxi was waiting.   
I arrived around eleven thirty, time was running out. I rushed inside and frantically looked around the ball room. It wasn’t hard to spot Ella. She was in the middle of the dance floor with the Prince! It was such a beautiful sight, they danced graceful across the floor, twirling and dazzling the audience that they acquired. I almost forgot why I was there. Then I heard the toll of the clock, eleven forty five. Perhaps there was time, maybe I could sweep her out of here before it was too late. I called out to her but I was too far away. Pushing through the crowd frantically I finally managed to the front lines of the audience. I shouted “Ella!” She heard me this time. She looked around until she spotted me. Then the bell rang twelve.   
The hall froze, everyone entranced by sudden interruption. Ella began to tremble. Then she began to shake violently. The Prince took a step towards her and softly said her name. She froze and slowly turned to him, there seemed to be a look of bewilderment on her face, then fear. I ran across the floor, calling to her, but everything happened so fast. She began to grab at her skin, tearing herself apart to reveal this furry creature beneath. Her body expanding as she ripped her skin off, until she was a massive wolf. The Prince stood completely frozen with fear. I pulled out my gun and pointed it at her but all within a few moments she stopped. Everyone gaped, horror stricken at this once beautiful maiden, now a terrifying werewolf. Then, in a moment, she attacked the Prince, tearing at his throat. Everyone screamed in horror and began sprinting for the doors. I screamed her name once more, “Ella!” and she turned around. I thought I could see her, in that creature’s eyes, Ella the daughter I loved and adored.  
The moment was gone in an instant and the werewolf ran towards me. She raised her arms as if to swipe at me, but in that moment I pulled the trigger. The hall echoed with the sound of the gun firing. Ella paused, arm frozen in midair, staring at me. A moment later she fell to the ground, transforming back into beautiful Ella before she hit the ground. The hall was about clear now, everyone had ran out, the guards finally pushing themselves forward, only to see the Prince dead along with a beautiful maiden, and myself, standing among them with the gun. They rushed towards me, pointing their guns, yelling at me to drop my own. I dropped the gun, never breaking eye contact with Ella’s lifeless body. They arrested me that night.  
There were many witness accounts of what truly happened that evening. Some, including my own daughters, exclaimed that a beast took hold of the girl, most who weren’t there thought them to be in shock by the shooting, or even insane. Many did question their own sanity on what they saw that evening. Others say they saw me pull the gun out and shoot them both. When I explained the situation, no one believed me. They thought I must have been driven mad by the loss of my husband. I was put in an asylum for the rest of my days. I can still see her in my dreams lying on the ballroom dance floor lifeless. Sometimes, during a particular restless night, I’ll be woken up to the sounds of howling. And when I peer out the window to investigate the noise, I swear on my life, I’d see two, cold, glowing eyes staring back at me.


End file.
